Point of Order
Picon speculates why the City of Sparks, who was barreling down the right track thanks to Sparks City Councilmember Charlene Bybee driving the train, got derailed and didn’t clarify a point or two.
In watching the Monday, January 8, 2024, Sparks City Council meeting you could feel the discomfort oozing from Chris Barrett, of Barrett Resources when he was stuck ‘singing for his supper’ addressing the council to get his $90,000 fee, continuing to lobby for the elusive Lands Bill approval. We say elusive since Barrett has been collecting money thanks to the Lands Bill from the City of Sparks since 2019 and it amounts to a tidy amount. As Chris Garvey, who Mayor Ed Lawson barely beat in the 2022 race (Garvey was unknown and Lawson having been appointed mayor after the death of Ron Smith had been a city councilmember since 2010. Lawson with 51.1% squeaked by Garvey’s 48.9% - about 800 votes) stated during public comment Barrett has been paid over $350,000. Garvey went onto mention a prior Picon Press Media article on July 30, 2022, about Barrett and Lawson’s friendship. Garvey took the time to remind Councilmembers Dahir, Anderson, and Abbott they are facing reelection. Her comments didn’t seem to phase the trio because Lawson’s boys, Don, Paul, and Kris seemed happy to renew Barrett and Scott Bensing’s contract (SB Strategic Consulting) with no questions asked, unlike Bybee.
The highlight of the meeting was when the ‘king of discomfort’ Chris Barrett raised a document and made the following comment, “We commissioned a study, that was a study that was paid for by one of the business groups that we formed, at the cost of almost $100,000. Not a cost to the city, nor a cost to the taxpayers, but was raised through local funds, private funds. Once the study was complete and paid for this is what we found.” Barrett went on to comment that the region is out of land, we get it Chris. Even though Barrett was flailing the report in the air, he couldn’t tell us where to find a copy, he knew it was online somewhere, just not where to find it. During comments, Councilmember Donald Abbott identified there is a website landsbill.org. Picon hopped on the site but couldn’t find the study. After much rooting about online, we finally found the Northern Nevada Vacant Land Analysis: Inventory & Implications For Economic Growth & Development report.
But wait, didn’t Barrett tell us this was a group that “we formed” and they “raised almost $100,000 through local funds, private funds” to commission this report. Does that mean Barrett formed EDAWN? Hold the phone Chris, we took a gander at everyone who participated and there is the City of Sparks, Washoe County, Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency, City of Reno, Storey County, EDAWN (which is partially funded by City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County), along with about 16 other companies. Okay, so can someone point out to Mr. Barrett that if government agencies we mentioned all participated with funds/time/resources that would mean taxpayer dollars were used for the study, which is what Barrett clearly stated to the Sparks City Council didn’t happen.
We urge Councilmember Charlene Bybee to ask for clarification. Were taxpayer dollars used for this report. If you read the comment in the report, “RCG would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency in this undertaking. The TMRPA has vast knowledge on the region’s land use and development patterns and provided much of the Study’s initial legwork. They furnished RCG with various data on Northern Nevada parcels, without which RCG could not have completed this analysis. In particular, RCG would especially like to thank Jeremy Smith, Director of Regional Planning at TMRPA.” We believe Mr. Smith, at TMRPA, is paid by taxpayers. Perhaps Mr. Barrett was again confused as he had indicated taxpayers didn’t pay for any of this report.
Picon will be crafting public record requests asking the government agencies if they contributed funds (including employee’s hours, such as Mr. Smith) to this study. We plan to ask Chris Barrett if he in fact formed the ‘business group’ for this report, as he had stated, and if that was EDAWN. We believe Mr. Barrett might have misspoken since as EDAWN’s website indicted they were formed in 1983.
